It
has been an unexpected progressive six days with the distance topping out at
136.9 miles. Unexpected because after a 3:40:27 finish at the Potomac River Run
Marathon on Sunday May 1st I anticipated patiently recovering trying
to find just enough reserve to reach the 100 miles goal for the 25th
consecutive week. But the legs and (playing more of a critical role) the mind
responded differently, in this order to be exact (total miles for each day); May
1st=26.2, May 2nd=6.3, May 3rd=18.8, May 4th=26.7,
May 5th=30.9 and May 6th=28 miles. The marathon surface
was the hardest (of the six days of running) being compact trail; the rest of
the running was primarily on grass. There is no doubt from many years of
fluctuating distances and changing locations that the soft surface has supported
moderating the effort and a faster recovery (as opposed to asphalt/concrete).
I
wish I had more to offer in this week’s reflection, wait, yes I do, my
ultra-friend coincidentally finished his first 100-mile race on Sunday May 1st.
I don’t want to go into elaborate detail telling his story here because it is
his experience to communicate in his own words but I will share this gem; he
successfully finished in under 24 hours a nonstop no-sleep effort where he
unintentionally achieved one of the ultimate goals of any activity – escaping the
time-space continuum. I consider it experiencing the Zen of running. You see,
when we typically go for a 12-15-20 mile run together he is the one wearing a
watch, providing updates on distance/pace. But during his first 100-miler, he
didn’t do that. He went watch-free and just stayed with the group he started
the race with, from beginning to end, not concerned or conscious of the
day/time…just running, replenishing and running some more. And to add to this
impressive accomplishment for a 100-miler first-timer, he ran 10 miles
comfortably (with me) after just 3 days of recovery.
Reading
back over the text, I guess this entry could have been titled Flash Recovery
but since I am trying to document these experiences in proper date order that
is the reason for the ‘forward’ label. See you next week.
Potomac
River Run Marathon
Time
= 3:40:27, Distance = 26.2 miles, Pace = 8:25/mile
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